Nut-lock.



Patented Sept. 25, I900. J. D. DOWELL & L. M. GALLIHER.

NUT LOCK.

(Application filed Mar. 26, 1900.)

(No Model.)

W/ TNE SSE 8 INVENTOHS Saw UNITED "STATES PATENT @FFICE.

JEFF DAVIS DOWELL AND LAWRENCE M. GALLIHER, OF MINEOLA, TEXAS.

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 658,719, dated September 25, 1900.

Application filed March 26, 1900. serial No. 10.187. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, J EFF DAVIS DOWELL and LAWRENCE M. GALLIHER, of Mineola, in the county of Wood and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Nut-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is in the nature of a new and improved nut-lock that is designed to hold a nut in any position and which may be released without injury to the lock and is adapted to take up expansion and contraction and is applicable to all kinds of usessuch as for bridges, cars, railroad-tracks, wagons, shipbuilding, &c.and which is adapted also to take theplace of a washer.

It consists in the peculiar construction of the device, which we will now proceed to describe with reference to the. drawings, in whicha Figure 1 is a perspective view of the nutlock. bolt, and Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2. J

A represents a stout plate of agenerally square shape with a central hole dthrough it to permit the passage of the bolt through the same and having the metal cut away at a at one of the corners, so as to leave the bolt-hole open on one side, with-projecting corners at I) Z), where the central hole opens into the cut-away side.

Attached to the plate and formed in one through line 3 3 piece with the same is an arm 0, which is off? set at c to the front side of the plane of the plate and is then bent over the plate, so as to overhang the nut. This portion'of the arm is formed with a series of ratchet-teeth c on the side facing the nut, which teeth project or incline in the direction in which the nut turns on the threaded end of the bolt, so as to engage the right-angular corners of the nut and by engaging with any one of the same acts thereagainst as a detent to prevent the nut from turning backward.

In applying the nut-lock it is slipped over the end of the bolt 0 before the nut B is applied to the same, so that the body or plate portion A lies between the nut in front and the fish-plate or timbers or other back bear- Fig. 2 shows it applied to a nut and,

ing in the rear. WVhen the nut is turned up tightly, this washer is forced against the said back bearing and is tightly clamped between the same and the nut, so that the cornersb b bury to some extent in the back bearing to prevent turning with the nut. When the nut is turned up to this tightly-clamped position, its corners act against the ratchet-teeth of the bent arm, and the latter springs back far enough to allow the corners of the nut to pass until fully turned up, at which time the ratchet-teeth by engaging with the corners of the nut prevent the unscrewing of the nut. To take ofi the nut, this spring-arm is pressed far enough away from the nut to allow its corners to pass the ratchet-teeth in moving, backward. This permits the nut-lock to be removed withoutbreaking or damaging the same in any way, so that it may be used over and over again, permitting the nut to be taken off and screwed on again as often as may be desired for tightening up or readjusting the parts.

VV are aware that a nut-lock has been constructed consisting of a metal bar bent to form an eye and then extended in a straight tangential line and bent over in a plane at right angles to the eye and returned to the eye on the same side and there provided with notches to engage the corner of the nut. Our invention consists of a flat baseplate having an arm extending from one corner and otfset to a different plane and then bent over with a gradual curve and returned to the baseplate upon the opposite side of the same from which it started. The advantages of this construction are that it gives a more elastic spring for the notched arm, adapting it to nuts of diiferent sizes, and gives a construction that may be base-plate from that whence it proceededflnd having serrations adapted to engage the corners of the nut as described.

2. A nut-lock comprising a fiat base-plate having a bolt-hole with a section of the baseplate cut away at one corner into the bolthole forming sharp-angle corners b b, and having also integral with the base-plate at the adjacent corner an arm ofiset to a difierent plane and then bent over with a gradual curve to the opposite side of the base-plate 

